High Court May Dim Lights On Class Arbitration In Lamps Plus

By Adam Primm and Peter Kirsanow (November 15, 2018, 2:27 PM EST) -- On Oct. 29, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Lamps Plus Inc. v. Frank Varela, a case on appeal from the Ninth Circuit examining whether an arbitration agreement permitted class arbitration. The language of the agreement is silent regarding class arbitration, only stating that the company and employee "mutually consent to the resolution of all claims or controversies, past, present, or future, that I may have against the company … or that the company may have against me. Specifically, the company and I mutually consent to the resolution by arbitration of all claims that may hereafter arise in connection with my employment or any of the parties' rights or obligations arising under this agreement." The agreement did not contain a class action waiver. The company argues that because the agreement is silent regarding class arbitration, the parties could not have agreed to authorize class arbitration. The employee argues that the language is ambiguous and should be construed against the drafter — the company — thus, authorizing class arbitration....

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